Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Saudi police are searching for an Indonesian housemaid accused by her employer of casting a magic spell on all his family, causing fainting and epileptic fits to them. The Saudi man said the maid joined his family in the capital Riyadh nearly three years ago and that she has been treated nicely by all family members. “Recently, all family members has started to suffer from fainting and epileptic fits. After the housemaid fled, we found magic items planted in various part of our house,” the unnamed man said, quoted by Sabq Arabic language daily. “I swear that we do not want to hurt her but to stop her evil acts against us and others,” said the man, who published a picture of the 31-year-old maid in newspapers." (thanks Regan)

The new foreign minister of Egypt (who has a sizable ego that he inherited from his father) must be furious: he is not allowed to communicate with the US Secretary of State. He can talk on the phone with Saudi foreign minister, but only Baradei is allowed to talk to Kerry.

"The opposition Syrian National Coalition on
Sunday condemned the reported "collective execution" by rebels of soldier
prisoners in the north and said it had created a commission of inquiry. At least
150 Syrian regime forces died in fighting with rebels for control of Khan
al-Assal, a key town in the northern Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said on Friday. It said more than 50 of those killed
were executed by rebels after Khan al-Assal fell on Monday, while the rest died
fighting for the regime's last bastion in the west of Aleppo province.
The mainstream rebel Ninth
Division of the FSA claimed responsibility for taking Khan al-Assal in
a video statement distributed on Monday. But footage distributed on
Friday by the Observatory said jihadists including the
Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front and Liwa Ansar al-Khilafa were behind the takeover." (thanks Basim)

“Syrian troops drove
insurgents from central Homs on Monday,
tightening their siege on remaining rebel bastions in the strategically
important city, which links Damascus to the Mediterranean heartland of
President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect.” (thanks Ali)

"English football has been warned it has allowed one of its major clubs to be exploited as a "branding vehicle" by an international regime accused of human rights abuses after a trial in Abu Dhabi, a country ruled by Manchester City's owner and his brothers, was widely denounced as repressive, involving torture, and "fundamentally unfair".Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have vehemently protested against the mass arrest of 94 people, their alleged torture while in Abu Dhabi jails, a "fundamentally unfair" trial, and long prison sentences with no right of appeal handed down earlier this month to the 69 people convicted. Amnesty said the treatment of the 94 in the United Arab Emirates, where Sheikh Mansour al-Nahyan's family, rulers of the richest emirate, Abu Dhabi, are dominant, "shows the authorities' determination to crush any form of dissent"."

Many wrote to me about my post on Lebanese, SF-based, Bishop Labib Kopti. I don't know the man and never heard of him before. But I received a direct forward of an email he sent out in which he promoted a hateful movie about Islam.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Diplomacy, Amos Hochstein, was in Lebanon (and of course he was received, like any and every US official at every rank, by the president and the rest of officials) and he expressed to Lebanese officials US desire to offer its assistance and knowledge to Lebanon in its exploration of oil and gas. I mean, how nice is that? How charitable? The US has a history of caring for the oil and gas treasures of the region, and at no cost and for no ulterior motive whatsoever.

Don't you like his congressional contacts who all sound just like him? " When asked for the main reasons the EU caved to White House pressure, a congressional contact who works with the Office of White House liaison succinctly replied: “Getting Israel of their backs for the EU boycott of the West Bank settlements, Assads apparent victory in Syria aided big-time by Hezbollah, and Obama wanting some progress with Kerry’s ‘peace talks’ project. He added, “Plus it was a politically inexpensive feel good affair that won’t have any real impact except for a PR gain for Livni who will use it in her campaign to replace Netanyahu.”". You have to be as dumb as Hizbullah media to believe this.

This is noticeable in Western media and Western human rights organizations that serve as mere arms of US foreign policy apparatus: they don't report about gruesome sexist murders in the region if the killers are Christian and they don't report about religious repression when at the hands of the church.

This ignorant Zionist "reporter" is able to know they are Christian from their jeans: " Young Christian women in skintight jeans, high heels and super-skimpy tops flirted with tanned beach boys". (Thanks Talal)

" With the government providing none of the facilities and land that authorities in Turkey, Jordan and Iraq have allocated for the refugees, many Syrians in Lebanon live in appalling conditions, finding shelter in slums, tents and tin shacks strung with laundry lines and wedged between farm lands outside towns and cities. On a casual walk in Beirut, one finds Syrians sheltering in underground parking lots, under bridges and old construction sites with no running water, sanitation, electricity or protection from Lebanon's sizzling summers and its freezing winters." (thanks Basim)

From a reader: "I am sending you this video to show the extent of suppression that the PA police took yesterday against the PFLP protest against return to negotiations in Ramallah. Kindly keep me anonymous. The police beat up MP member Khaleda Jarrar of the PFLP and scores of others and took 4 injured men from the hospital for detention. The men were later released in the night after a protest again in front of the police station in the Manara square. The second protest, shortly after the Iftar was marked with (shabiba) Fatah men who tried to cause discord and schisms with the protesters and harassing them saying things like : We have kept our women in the house, bel rouh bel dam nafdeek ya abu Mazen, whereas the protesters called after Palestine: bel rouh bel dam nafdeeki ya flisteen. Clearly this time around the extreme violence that the PA police used means that the PA does not want any objections to the return to negotiations with Israel and they are inspired by El Sissi's suppression of dissent in Egypt among the Muslim Brothers. "

Something is quite noticeable in Edgeware Road in London: the publication of Saudi political opposition literature has markedly slowed down thereby indicating to me the disappearance of Qatari subsidies.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

"Toronto police are facing harsh criticism after a video of officers fatally shooting an 18-year-old man armed with a knife on an empty streetcar was posted online over the weekend." "Police can still be heard yelling, "Drop the knife," after the shots are fired. About 30 seconds after the first shot a police officer climbs up the steps of the streetcar and the sound of a Taser can be heard." (thanks Amir)

Dowd: " WHEN you puzzle over why the elegant Huma Abedin is propping up the eel-like Anthony Weiner, you must remember one thing: Huma was raised in Saudi Arabia, where women are treated worse by men than anywhere else on the planet."". All Arab-Americans had the same reaction to this trash: did Hillary also grow up in Saudi Arabia? (thanks Nasir)

" Similar to what they have done after 11 February 2011, the officers today are promoting a narrative in which they have (once again) intervened heroically to save the day and “protect the revolution.” Accordingly, after they helped oust Morsi out of power, the officers are now asking Egyptians for pay back. The people are now to offer a blind, if not supportive, eye to the military practices as it employs deadly force, repression, and xenophobia to force its challengers into submission. The fear mongering discourse that the military has used as part of its “war on terror” initiative has clearly turned into more than just “words,” after security forces killed dozens of Muslim Brotherhood protesters Friday night, and dozens others in previous attacks. Yesterday’s brutal attacks came right after millions of Egyptians rallied in nationwide public gatherings in support of Minister of Defense Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s request for a popular mandate to deal with imminent “terrorist” threats. Many media outlets and opinion shapers in Egypt have uncritically expressed support for this alarming development. This pattern only highlights the extent to which advocates of dignity and justice in the country face an uphill battle in countering the attempts of the military and their allies to liquidate political dissent and dictate the terms of the new political order." (Thanks Bassam)

""While North Carolina's numbers might pale in comparison, the state was consistently the most aggressive. Under the guise of public health and safety, North Carolina was the only state to allow social workers to designate people for sterilization, the New York Times reported. The standards by which an individual could be forcibly sterilized in the state were also some of the most lax in the nation. Unmarried women with children, African Americans, individuals with an I.Q. under 70, the mentally ill and children from poor families were just some of the many groups all routinely sought out and sterilized. In records obtained by the Charlotte Observer, patient notes for sterilized victims paint a by-the-book, apathetic disregard for the well being of those coming in and out of surgery. "A woman, 24, pregnant with an out-of-wedlock child: This girl is sexually promiscuous and a pauper," reads one. "A woman, 35, deserted by her husband years before, who has just given birth to her ninth child: She is unable to provide the barest necessities for them or to give them minimum supervision and care," reads another. In a March 1945 article for The Charlotte News, freelance writer Evangeline Davis made the case for eugenics: "No matter what our feelings concerning the mentally deficient, it is senseless and cruel, in the end, to permit them to procreate and bring into the world more of their kind," she wrote."" (Thanks Christian)

Marwan Al-Mu'ashshir announces his plan to return to Jordan to lead a new political party comprising all five of his supporters (sorry, four because one just left). He also said that he was a democrat even when he served as Minister of Censorship. The return of Mu'ashshir to Jordan is as dramatic as the return of Ahmad Chalabi to Iraq.

The features of the new coup regime and the aim of the new megalomanic of Egypt are by now clear. The attempt to steal from the aura of Nasser is comical if not tragic and murderous. Western media, still suffering from Cold War the of Nasser, refer to Nasser as dictator. In one day Sisi killed more than the Nasser's regime in its entirety. There was no such mass shooting under Nasser. And you look at the Western media and you see casual justifications of the mass shooting. No calls in the Western media for arming the Ikhwan as they do in the case of Syria. Egyptian liberals and some leftists and some Nasserists there are walking to the scaffold head high and under heavy dosage of delusions as those communists who aligned themselves with Khomeini. Look at this sample of description, nay justification, of the shooting: "The clashes started in the late evening of Friday when protesters from the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in marched toward the October Six Bridge and started blocking its entrance on Nasr Street, eyewitnesses said. The police intervened and fired tear gas to disperse them. Clashes started shortly after, with birdshot and live ammunition used."

This is what has not been reported about how Saudi Arabia picked the leader of the Syrian National Coalition, with the full support of the (fake) progressive boy of Bandar, Michel Kilu. Ahmad Al-Jarba, the tribal polygamist who was unknown in opposition circles inside and outside Syria, was picked purely because he is related by marriage to Saudi King Abdullah. The Saudi King is currently married to two sisters from Al-Jarba family: Tadi and Malika Al-Jarba (his other two wives are from the Sha'lan and the Muhanna families.) Enjoy your Syrian polygamist "revolution".

Ahmad Muaz Al-Khatib wrote this on his Facebook page (my translation): "Can someone point out to me a patriotic and neutral secularist in the Syrian opposition?". This is supposed to be the moderate of the religious kooky bunch. (Thanks Ahmad)

Thursday, July 25, 2013

From anonymous: "That Nasser is about to shake Sisi's hand as a child in the picture you posted
is pure fiction. The same photo was made popular before on the basis that the
child in the picture is former Egyptian presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi.
Of course, the child is neither. It is likely someone called Mahmoud Sobhy
(not a public figure as far as i am aware) whose daughter posted on Facebook
another childhood picture that appears to substantiate that her father, Mahmoud
Sobhy, is the child in question. Here is the Facebook post of Mahmoud Sobhy's
daughter, though I am not quite sure if its privacy settings will let you or
your readers see it:

"Ahrar Ash Sham -"the moderates" for main stream media
because of not fighting in the ranks of An Nusrah- opened fire a
civilian convoy on the way from Aleppo to Beirut and killed a 40
year-old Armenian woman." (thanks Ali)

"A recent series of events seem to indicate that the Moroccan government has enlisted the services of a prominent foreign policy lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), to help defend Morocco's occupation in Western Sahara."

From Joseph:"I did a little research today, and it seems that PETA is enamored with Israel.
In one blog post they literally sent their "kisses
to Israel".

This
article from earlier this year quotes a PETA spokeswoman as being "just over
the moon" with a new Israeli law that bans the testing of cosmetics on animals.
But, this famous Israeli compassion comes as no surprise to PETA:

“Israel
has already been at the forefront in this area, so this is not unexpected. But
it is a wonderful example,” she said.

PETA gushed about Homeland executive producer Gideon Raff because he
wrote a letter to then US Secretary of Defense Panetta condemning America's use
of animals in training exercises:

PETA has nothing to say about Israel's senseless slaughter of chickens and
other animals in Gaza during its 2008-2009 massacre. In fact, a search for
"Gaza" on PETA's website garnered zero results. And of course there wasn't a
word about that disgusting bird-boiling video.

I'm a vegan and generally supportive of PETA, but their hypocrisy and
willingness to 'animal-wash' Israeli terrorism is ridiculous. It makes me
wonder if PETA will send their kisses to Charles Manson if he decides to go
vegan?"

"Of 746 people listed as killed in the drone strikes outlined in the document, at
least 147 of the dead are clearly stated to be civilian victims, 94 of those are
said to be children." (thanks Nikolai)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

"Hizbollah is a Shi’a organization and the Alawites
have been recognised by Ayatollah Khomeini as a branch of the Shi’as." She got the first part of the sentence right. Indeed, Hizbullah is a Shi`ite organization and for that she does deserve a blender. Now for the second part of the sentence. It is not true that Khomeini ever issued a fatwa considering `Alawites as Shi`ite twelvers. The theological differences between Shi`ite twelvers and Ghulat Ash-Shi`ah (or Ultra-Shi`ites) like `Alawites are too big to ignore or obscure or disregard. That is why the Shi`ite acceptance of `Alawites fell to a politician, through and through, Imam Musa As-Sadr (who was a client of the Syrian regime in Lebanon, and who died as one of the most faithful clients of the regime in Lebanon). I also asked my adviser on Shi`ite theological matters to comment on this, and he said:

"I do not recall any fatwa from Khomeini in this regard. But his legal language
- unlike Musa al-Sadr's - is very dry. His sentences would probably read
something like "whoever does so and so is not a Muslim" leaving it to the
reader's discretion to match the description with actual labels (this is how
Khamenei goes about the question of certain sects in Iran).

An important point is worth mentioning: Khomeini was more rigid
theologically than others, but did believe that the interests of the Muslim
community as a whole justifies playing down theological difficulties.

A famous episode here is when he banned a few volumes of the 110-volume
encyclopedia Bihar al-Anwar (Oceans of Light), because these volumes vilify some
companions of Muhammad who are respected by Sunnis. It does not mean he
disagrees necessarily with the content - at least totally; but that for him, the
Muslim cause sets the priorities."

"The student participants were... They
earned credits in journalism, Judaic studies or international relations,
took field trips and tours of historically important areas, did
workshops with some of Israel's leading political, governmental and
academic personalities as well as Israeli and foreign correspondents,
participated and worked at the International Conference that was
convened by Israeli President Shimon Peres and included participants
such as former United States President Bill Clinton, and blogged about
their experiences.
"The program was great because it allowed us to not only learn about
what's happening with Israel but also the entire Middle East, so I got
the opportunity to learn a broader perspective on the entire conflict
and I got to see from multiple perspectives of what's happening there,"
Baumoehl, a senior who resides in West Palm Beach, said."

"James F. Jeffrey, who was the United States ambassador in Baghdad when
the last American troops left in December 2011, said that Iraqi forces
had performed poorly and that it was clear their skills had deteriorated
now that the American troops training them were gone “This is the first example I have seen that the absence of American
troops that would have provided tactical training has had an impact on
the battlefield,” said Mr. Jeffrey, who is now a visiting fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ."

That is a really good decision, or it is a good indicator. Delivery of arms to the Middle East are all approved by Israel and decided purely on Israeli interests. So this reveals that Israel has calculated that changes in Egypt won't be in the interest of Israel.

"It's not a question of promoting democracy or
pluralism as the West wants us to understand of its policies. This is a lie,
this is hypocrisy,"
H.B. Ignatius Joseph III Younan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch

“160 little Christian villages have been completely
abandoned. Many are fleeing to Lebanon but we do not know how many. I saw our
bishop of Damascus cry like a baby”
Mons. Elias Chacour

Melkite Catholic Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All
Galilee

In the Christian villages along the Orontes [River]
there is not much left, of the four thousand inhabitants of the village of
Ghassanieh the parish priest has informed me that there is no longer anyone,
only about ten people, and the empty houses have been occupied by the families
of the rebels who are following along with them.”Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem."

"With Egypt’s history as the vanguard of Arab nationalism and the Arab struggle against Israel, it may seem shocking that such contempt for the Palestinians — and lately Syrians, who are being subjected to similar forms of incitement — could be so loud and pervasive.
During his rule from 1956-1970, President Gamal Abdel-Nasser upgraded the rights of Palestinians in Egypt, giving them equal status to Egyptians."

"Hezbollah is a secretive organization and does not reveal the identity of its
military and security personnel." He should have added: ....except to me and to other Zionist Western correspondents in Beirut. (thanks Basim)

"Dahlan, who currently resides in Dubai and Europe, hired an Israeli law
firm to file the complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague,
the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported on Wednesday. The firm is run by Zaki Kamal,
the deputy president of the Israel Bar Association, and his son, Kamal Kamal." (thanks Robert)

It has become clear: when Arabs apply for visas to Visit US, France, Germany, or UK, they have to submit evidence of a fat bank account. Western embassies are only interested in issuing visas to rich Arabs. Exceptions will be made for those who are spies/terrorists for Israel, of course.

"But a review of dozens of US federal government documents shows Washington has quietly funded senior Egyptian opposition figures who called for toppling of the country's now-deposed president Mohamed Morsi."

""Arab Islamists and Kurdish militants, two of the most
controversial armed groups in Syria's civil war, for the past week have been
battling each other for control of key towns close to the Turkish border after
the Kurds announced a plan to declare local autonomy.""

"Israel's army is investigating a video which appears to show an Israeli soldier immersing a live bird into a boiling pan. The video, which was uploaded to YouTube, shows a uniformed soldier cooking a live bird over a stove."

"Disillusioned by the Islamist twist that the "revolution" in Syria
has taken, exhausted after more than two years of conflict and feeling that
they are losing, growing numbers of rebels are signing up to a negotiated
amnesty offered by the Assad regime. At the same time, the families of retreating fighters have begun quietly
moving back to government-controlled territory, seen as a safer place to
live as the regime continues its intense military push against rebel-held
areas. The move is a sign of the growing confidence of the regime, which has
established a so-called "ministry of reconciliation" with the task
of easing the way for former opponents to return to the government side."

"Mainly Sunni Syrian opposition rebels in Homs have adopted a new strategy, firing grad
missiles into Alawite residential
neighborhoods, in an attempt to sow discord between loyal civilians
and pro-government militia groups there. The new strategy, according to
residents and opposition activists, is being used to prompt Alawite civilians to
pressure pro-government and loyalist militia groups to adopt a cease-fire
following a blistering two week siege on the rebels in the neighborhoods of
Khaldieh and Bab Houd."

Another indication of the new shift in Qatari foreign policy (in synch with Saudi foreign policy) is the news that `Abdullah bin Rashid met with the new Emir the other day. The former Emir hated the sons of Zayid and considered them "agents of Israel".

I say this with great disappointment because the founder is a progressive, anti-Zionist activist. But here is what the movement has written on its official page (my translation): "We call upon the mass of the great Egyptian people to gather [in large crowds] in the squares of Egypt next Friday, and to call officially for the trial of Muhammad Mursi and to support the Egyptian armed forces in its upcoming war against terrorism and for the cleansing of the land of Egypt from the agents of the homeland. We shall fight terrorism, as people and as army". This is despicable. (thanks Electronic Ali)

So secular people are holding hands and shooting at the same time: "Other Christians and
Alawites have joined the mainly Sunni-dominated political opposition; and a
secular civil society is still actively engaged in Local Coordination
Committees." Also, she says: "Hizbollah is a Shi’a organization and the Alawites
have been recognised by Ayatollah Khomeini as a branch of the Shi’as.
Nasrallah’s intervention, however, was not prompted by religious affinity but
by pressure from his Iranian allies." Every part of the last sentence is untrue.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

So there is a new Google keyboard to be used in ِِِAndroid-based devices. I have been using it on my Sony Experia tablet. But it seems that some old fashioned orientalist was behind the design. It can type what you can dictate to it but there is an Islamo-centric problem. Whatever you say it will interpret as including the words "Allah" and "the messenger". It thinks that every Arabic sentence have to include those two words. Kid you not.

From Colin:"I believe media propagandists in Nazi Germany were convicted of facilitating
genocide for sectarian incitement?

This is from Guardian, going head over
heals justifying a sectarian hate narrative in some country it's editors hardly
know about.Promoting sectarian/racist hate when you yourself have no
particular beef with (or barely know the existence of) that particular group
has got to be just a step lower than the actual racists.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/22/syria-sunnis-fear-alawite-ethnic-cleansingSyrian
Sunnis fear Assad regime wants to 'ethnically cleanse' Alawite
heartlandMartin Chulov and Mona MahmoodThe Guardian, Monday 22 July 2013
15.06 EDTIt gives exactly one minor counterexample of Sunni rebel
"cleansing" Alawites,yet every single paragraph leads one to the conclusion
that the Syrian state/allied militia are uniquely and intentionally pursuing an
'sectarian cleansing' agenda.No mentioning of the sectarian cleansing of
christians in Qusair (before being retaken) or multitudes of other towns, who
were told "convert or die".No mentioning of the replete examples of explicit
exterminationist sectarian agenda of the Sunni-sectarian rebels.OF COURSE no
mention of Sunnis living in government controlled districts and fighting for
regime forces.

It gives a bunch of examples of the regime arming Alawite
civilians as proof of sectarian cleansing agenda.What non-Sunnis are being
armed by the rebels? Get real."The general mood among pro-Assad
people started to include the possibility of the fall of Damascus, which leaves
them under the rule of the FSA [Free Syrian Army rebels] and the Sunnis ... and
for the majority of people here it is better to live in an Alawite state, which
they feel should include Homs."Of course nobody is particularly
fearing the fall of Damascus now. So all the Sunni-sectarian's theories have
been proved to be bullshit.This whole theory was predicated on their
triumphalist strategic thinking which implied the functional sectarian cleansing
of Damascus BY Sunnis against Alawites."There have been obvious examples
of denominational cleansing in different areas in Homs," said local activist,
Abu Rami. "It is denominational cleansing; part of a major Iranian Shia plan,
which is obvious through the involvement of Hezbollah and Iranian militias. And
it's also part of Assad's personal Alawite state project.""The Syrian regime
is using a few military men who served during the civil war in Lebanon as
military advisers and they came up with this plan of isolating Alawite villages
and Sunni districts. A plan they executed in Lebanon is now history repeating
itself."Oh yes, the Lebanon war experience. SAA fighting
Hezbollah.Involvement of Hezbollah obviously proves a sectarian cleansing
agenda. Except Hezbollah has not been implicated in that at all. I mean, if
they were, I'd think FSA/SOHR would mention it. And this is all part of Assad's
personal Alawite state "project".NEWSFLASH: Syria was already Assad's
personal state, and he benefitted from including non-Alawite's in it.No
mention of the fact that ALL non-Sunni (and plenty of Sunnis, both Arabs and
especially Kurds) are more comfortable with Assad than the "rebels". Some
Alawite state.

"Nine
months ago, the regime created the National Defence Army, which is Shabiha
[loyalist militia of Shia and Alawite] volunteers," he said. "They are the most
bloody killers, even more brutal than the army."I'm pretty sure the
Guardian itself has written of NDA/Shabiha including members of others sects,
Christians in particular. Are Christians now crypto-Shia along with
Alawites?They quote Jumblatt but never mention the position of Syrian Druze.
(I guess the Druze who go along with the regime must count as Shia as well,
only the 'good' Druze like Jumblatt are not amongst the Shia dogs?)Jumblatt:
"The crucial point was when the
battle of Homs started and it quickly became clear that the regime wanted to
clear the whole route to Damascus and beyond.Wait: When did the
battle of Homs start? When rebels started trying to take it over and shooting
regime forces? Or when the regime started winning?

I thought before fighting started the regime was in complete control of
Homs, so what would there be to clear?

"In Homs city, Abu
Ahmed, a commander of the FSA-aligned al-Farouq brigade, said: "The regime is
encouraging Alawite families in the Homs countryside who have friction with
Sunnis to head to Alawite districts in the city. We are pretty sure that the
regime wants to take Homs city and countryside and make it just for
Alawites."Hm. I presume the commander of the al-Farouq brigade would
tell us up front if these Alawites were facing difficulties living in Sunni
rebel dominated areas, right?So there couldn't be any reason why they would
leave such areas to move to "Alawite districts of Homs" other than sectarian
cleansing of Sunni Homs residents.Wait...How does Alawites moving into
Alawite districts lead to sectarian cleansing of Sunnis? ...But maybe this guy
is on to something big...If Assad is planning to cleanse Homs of Sunnis...
We should be expecting a pullout of all Sunni soldiers in the SAA from Homs,
right? That sounds pretty significant.Compare:comments from sources
with clear anti-regime agenda are NEVER given any sectarian affiliation at
all,which of course lessens the perception of them as pursuing a sectarian
agenda:"What else could be
going on?" asked one resident who refused to be identified. "This is the most
secure area of the city and it is the only building that has been burned. A
conspiracy is underway.""There have been obvious examples of denominational
cleansing in different areas in Homs," said local activist, Abu Rami. "It is
denominational cleansing; part of a major Iranian Shia plan, which is obvious
through the involvement of Hezbollah and Iranian militias. And it's also part of
Assad's personal Alawite state project."

But Alawites are
routinely identified as such, sometimes with NO other information about them
other than being an Alawite:""There was one [supply run] in 2012
and two months ago," one Alawite said. "Now every household in the Alawite
villages across the coast receives a government-sponsored package of an AK‑47,
two hand grenades and ammunition. If you joined a 'public resistance movement'
you'd receive a lot more.""

"Residents of Alawite strongholds in
Tartus and Latakia confirmed that arms had been offered to them three times
since the uprising began in March 2011."But Tartus and Latakia are majority
Sunni. So how can they be Alawite strongholds? In fact, they are REGIME
strongholds, not Alawite strongholds.

(the sentence could be read
differently if it were alawite sectarian strongholds within a divided city, but
that isn't the case, there is no contested control in those regions)

How is this much different than Nazi propaganda identifying a few Jewish
hate-figures as synonymous with Jewish people at large?

Of course the recent battles of regime and armed rebels indicate rebels ARE
running offensive operations in this area, thus a reason for security.

When rebels like car-bombing in civilian areas, that means regime security
in civilian areas, simple enough.

Even within the article it acknowledges that the "Alawite State
retreating to ethnically cleansed homeland when Damascus falls" doesn't match up
with current reality,even though they rely on that premise for much of the
article as a plausible rationale for much of the commentary and conclusions
drawn.

You would be amused that Israel manages to play a special cameo
role, supposedly negotiating over the (now revealed to be very unlikely, but
don't let that affect your judgement of the reliability of FSA sources) "Alawite
retreat from Damascus" scenario: what was the negotiation? Returning or
revealing the location of a handful of Israeli military who were captured in
Lebanon (ON OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS, obviously). as well as the body of Israeli spy
caught and executed in Syria. The article didn't make it clear how hard of a
bargain Israel insisted on driving in order to cooperate with a religious
minority not being subject to an exterminationist sectarian
cleansing."

Somebody should tell those Zionist hoodlums at Frontpage and at Campus Watch that this quotation they attribute to me is not my words but was sent to me by a reader: "Taking it a step further, As’ad AbuKhalil,
a political scientist at California State University, Stanislaus,
posted the following at his “Angry Arab” blog: “[I]nteresting that while
Obama was in deep trouble over the NSA spy scandal suddenly a
revolution in Egypt bursts out . . . wiping out or at least putting
lower on the front page news about the NSA spy scandal.”"

"To
this day, dioxin continues to poison the land and the people. The United States
has never accepted responsibility for these victims – it denies that Agent
Orange is responsible for diseases among Vietnamese that are accepted as Agent
Orange-caused among American veterans – and it’s unclear when this chain of
misery will end." (thanks Rob)

"" "It's not a shift, but it's recognition that the
administration's policy goals will not be achieved during this presidency," said
Andrew J. Tabler, a senior fellow and a Syria expert at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy [WINEP]. "We're in this for a long slog." ""

"The United States has consistently claimed only a tiny number of
non-combatants have been killed in drone attacks in Pakistan – despite research
by the Bureau and others suggesting that over 400 civilians may have died in the
nine-year campaign." (thanks Amir)

I started this blog back in 2003 largely in response to the lousy Western media coverage of the invasion, occupation, and brutalization of Iraq. Here we are ten years later and the Iraqi people still die in the hundreds due to policies and actions set by the US invasion of the country.

"Once proud of their networked, leaderless structure, the liberals
eventually embraced former U.N. nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei as
their figurehead. It was a disastrous choice: Arrogant, vain and more
comfortable in a Viennese salon than a Cairo slum, ElBaradei was polling
in the single digits when he withdrew from last year’s presidential race.
Without their own candidate, the liberals were faced with a
choice in the runoff between a military-backed candidate and the
Islamist Morsi. Most chose Morsi. A delegation of youth leaders met with
the Brotherhood nominee and extracted promises: Secular ministers would
be included in the cabinet, and the new constitution would be forged by
a consensus among secular and Islamist parties."

From Ali, chief Angry Arab correspondent in Turkey: "The fate of Aleppo's Greek Orthodox
Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim is still
unknown since they were kidnapped in the west of Aleppo, but Turkish
media today reported a strange news.

According to the news, the
two bishops were killed and Turkish security forces arrested the three
murderers in Turkish province of Konya.
It is said that the
murderers have different nationalities. One of them is from Russia, the
other one is from Chechenya while the third one is bearing the Syrian
nationality. According to the same reports, Turkish authorities
extradited three killers to their countries.
On the same day pro-opposition Syrian observatory claimed that the fates of bishops are still unclear.
Some
Turkish sources claimed in May that the two bishops were kidnapped by a
group close to Turkey, who are also responsible of kidnapping 11
Lebanese pilgirms. Some sources in Syriac community in Turkey told daily
Sol that before the kidnapping of Yohanna İbrahim, Turkish Foreign
Minister tried to convince them to move their center from Damascus to
Turkey. And he was kidnapped just a week later they returned the offer
of Davutoğlu. They claimed that there should be a relation between
Davutoğlu's offer and the kidnapping. Turkish goverment has been trying
to convince Syriacs, offer them citizenship and houses to defect from
Syria to show that "even Christians flee from the dictatorship."

"AÇ: Coordinated by whom? TA: I mean the army as well as the fuloul—that is, the beneficiaries of the Mubarak regime. I think they knew
exactly what they were doing, I think that they took advantage of a
certain amount of popular dissatisfaction, and there was a lot of mutual
coming and going between them. For example, Mohamed ElBaradei had
conversations some months ago in Saudi Arabia with Ahmed Shafiq, the old
candidate who stood unsuccessfully against Morsi and was the last prime
minister under Mubarak’s rule, and who represents (or at least one of
the people who represents) interests of Mubarak’s
beneficiaries–including the army. And they certainly made all sorts of
agreements there as leaders of the National Salvation Front, and I
cannot believe that the army was not aware of that communication. I
think perhaps that most of the young people in the Tamarod Movement were
probably not aware–although it now turns out that some of the biggest
millionaires, like Naguib Sawiris, for example, were bankrolling the
movement and supporting it in other ways. So I think there was a
“coordination”–if not a “conspiracy” as many now allege–to make the
opposition effective by fair means or foul. What worries me really is
the intervention of the army, something that was not anticipated by
everyone (although some NSF leaders had publicly called for it), and the
consequent suspension of the constitution that had been approved by a
substantial majority in a referendum. I am worried that now there is a
total vacuum that will be filled for a long time by the army, despite
the fact that the temporary president, appointed by the army (and who
was head of the pro-Mubarak Supreme Constitutional Court), has been
accorded powers that exceed those which the suspended constitution gave
to Morsi, the elected president."

There was recently a case in Lebanon where a man beats his wife to death. But the man and the victim are Christians. I was thinking: this would have been an international story had the two been Muslims. But because they were not, the story did not generate Western media coverage. It is a very simple principle in Western media coverage of the region.

Feminist groups in Lebanon should not be hailing this lousy new law about Family Violence Law (originally it was supposed to be about Domestic Violence Against Women law). Lousy Hariri movement and lousy Hizbullah succeeded in changing the original draft law beyond recognition. The two movements disagree on everything except on hostility to women and their rights. The original draft law was supposed to ban marital rape while the new law in fact permits marital rape. Look at the language, as it calls for punishment against "he who in the attainment of his marital right in copulation or due to it, hits his wife or causes her harm". So marital rape is now officially legal in Lebanon provided the man does not leave bruises on the woman.

Monday, July 22, 2013

This is an actual headline of a story on the website of the news station of King Fahd's brother-in-law: "Al-Arabiyya Station: The Strength of Our Influence Expose us to a permanent campaign of distortion". Kid you not.

"Mr. Indyk, a veteran of Middle East diplomacy, is currently the foreign
policy director at the Brookings Institution. Ehud Yaari, the Arab
affairs analyst for the Israeli news channel and a fellow of the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said on Sunday that Mr. Indyk
“knows all the players very well and has their respect.”"

In the middle of last year, it became known that in 2011, the C.I.A. had paid a local doctor to try to get DNA samples from children inside an Abbottabad compound to prove they were related to Bin Laden. Even though the doctor, Shakil Afridi, who is now serving a 33-year
sentence for treason, was offering a hepatitis vaccine, anger turned
against polio drops. Leaders of the polio eradication effort could not have been more
frustrated. They were already fighting new rumors that vaccinators were
helping set drone targets because they have practices like marking homes
with chalk so that follow-up teams can find them. Now, after years of
reassuring nervous families that the teams were not part of a C.I.A.
plot, here was proof that one was. “It was a huge, stupid mistake,” Dr. Bhutta said. Anger deepened when American lawmakers called Dr. Afridi a hero and
threatened to cut off aid if he was not released. The W.H.O. and the
Unicef, afraid of offending the United States, did not protest publicly.
Unicef’s executive director, Anthony Lake, is a former White House
national security adviser, which put the agency in an awkward position,
an agency official said on the condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the issue."

"Under the Prawer plan, their land will be confiscated in order to
establish a wedge of Jewish communities separating Arab communities in the
western and eastern parts of the Naqab. This is an intensification of an already
ongoing assault. As the video notes, in 2005, 30,000 Bedouin homes had an
Israeli demolition order. In 2011, about 1,000 were demolished." (thanks Amir)

"A Saudi prince
allegedly threatened to behead a business partner and ship his body parts back
to his family in Jordan, it was revealed in contested court evidence as part of
a legal battle currently before the High Court in London." (thanks Tariq)

"Earlier this week, New York Public Advocate Bill de Blasio condemned the
Saudi airline’s decision not to allow Israelis on board and said that
it was “racial discrimination.” He warned that he would work to ensure
the Saudi airlines does not land in American airports."

"It’s possible that they don’t happen very often but it’s equally possible that
some go unreported because of the taboos and shame associated with homosexuality in Yemen." So it is possible that they don't happen very often--and there is no evidence to the contrary WHATSOVER--and even when there are no killings, we can claim that there are killings but that they go unreported? But why not report them (but not as gay killings) by their parents? But here is the deal: one has to be sure when reporting that a killing is "gay killing", even if the victim is gay. I mean, it is logic: if an Arab is killed in a fight in a bar in the US, it does not mean that he was killed because he was an Arab, right? Even if he was Arab. The same thing about killing of a gay person in the region: a person may have been killed for a whole variety of reasons and not necessarily because he is gay, and even if he were gay. It could be due to tribal or political or personal reasons, even if neighbors and security officials later said that the victim was gay. We don't know if it was a gay killing without a trial of the killer and an examination of motives. Those killing for example we know are gay killing because the killers reported their motives and it was reported in the press. I just call for a bit of caution and responsibility in this highly trendy and sensational topic in Western liberal media.

Can Western correspondents in the Middle East read English at least? "In these areas, the most dangerous elements, particularly for the
regime, are those who cloak themselves with the legitimacy of the state
and work from within the folds of government for their own benefit, thus
exacerbating the crisis.
Even before the Syrian uprising broke out, there was an army of
corrupt officials operating like mafias in all aspect of the state
bureaucracy. They are the ones to blame for having alienated a sizeable
section of the Syrian population in the first place.
They come in all shapes and sizes: those who hoard goods to raise
prices, who gamble with the country’s currency, who smuggle and sell
Syria’s heritage on the black market, who are outright thieves and
criminals dressed up as soldiers. They can carry on because they enjoy
political cover from officials with influence in government.
Some have even committed the ugliest massacres like the one in the
town of al-Baidaa (Banyas), in the name of the Popular Committees tasked
with defending their localities. Has anyone in the upper echelons of
the state heard of Hilal al-Assad and his gang? Do they actually think
his presence on the ground actually helps Syria?
And what about the security forces and their many criminal practices,
be it kidnapping protesters they filmed at demonstrations for ransom,
to arresting and harassing people for voicing the slightest objection to
government policies, to the mistreatment of those imprisoned in the
regime’s notorious detention centers."

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Somebody should write a book about how Israeli archeology has been used by the state to keep Israeli myths alive. Every year or so, Israeli acheologists announce some new discovery, along the lines of: look. You see this pebble? It was part of the throne on which King David napped. Now this: "A team of Israeli archaeologists believes
it has discovered the ruins of a palace belonging to the biblical King
David, but other Israeli experts dispute the claim."

How many lies can you squeeze in a sentence? "But 16 months later, Ms. Thomas abruptly announced her retirement from
Hearst amid an uproar over her assertion that Jews should “get the hell
out of Palestine” and go back where they belonged, perhaps Germany or Poland." In fact, she called on Israelis to leave Palestine. And she did not name only Germany and Poland because she also mentioned the US. Look how the entire sentence was changed by the Times to make her sound like an anti-Semite.

I have received unconfirmed reports that the brave leftist struggler, Al-Khayyir, died in his prison in the Air Force intelligence branch. Anyone has confirmation? It has to be stated that the lousy, repressive Syrian regime is far more cruel and vindictive against leftists and communists (especially the Communist Action Party which has a sizable `Alawite membership) than it has been against Islamists. It is far easier for the regime to paint the whole opposition as religious fanatics.

And who do the people of Aleppo blame for the destruction of the Old City? "They fear the example of Aleppo’s Old City in the north, where
centuries-old mosques and markets have been destroyed in the fighting."

So I was at the Berkeley library yesterday. As I entered the Moffitt library, I looked at the display of newspapers from around the world outside. I saw that of all the Middle East newspapers, there is only one cover sample from...Israel. I was furious. Here are some 6 million Israeli Jewish settlers who are seen, always in the US, are far more significant in every way and at every level, than the more than 400 million of the Middle East. Just think about it. When I came to the US, I could not even believe that many colleges in the US would even offer courses on Israel when there were no courses on India or Iran. So it is not really the number: it is the quality of the population. When you encounter something like that, always remember what Lord Balfour told journalists in his Hotel room after the release of the Balfour Declaration: that "numerical self-determination was excluded".

PS Yes, I went to the librarian to protest but was told that the person in charge was not available.

I know that you go for a day or two to Syria, but maybe you should talk to resident beside Mr. Lotof: "has returned after years in America for what he sees as a mission to
defend its ancient streets, relatively unscathed by two years of war." Not really unscathed unless you discount car bombs and shells by your beloved rebels.

"..but that the “Americans agreed to provide guarantees which would not turn our faces red” regarding the future borders." How could any Arab not trust American guarantees when given to Arabs? Just ask the victims of Sabra and Shatila massacres about American guarantees to protect the camps after the withdrawal of PLO forces from Lebanon.

"Ahmad Abbas, director of the Palestinian Authority planning ministry,
said in an interview that “all the big issues — Jerusalem, settlements,
refugees — have been postponed until further notice,”" Well, so peace is at hand, after all.

"Mr. Kerry said the sides had agreed not to disclose details of the deal." You read this and you conclude that the PA collaborators must have made yet another set of concessions that would be way too embarrassing to reveal.

I am against negotiations with Israel on principle, and I am for the full liberation of Palestine but even if one is for negotiations--which I am not--how could one trust a process in which a buffoon (Saeb Erekat) represents the Palestinian people?

"As is often the case in Israel, one citizen’s open refusal to serve
spoke to issues that cut deep into the complex character of a state
whose identity and survival are so closely intertwined with its
military. Mr. Blanc posed a challenge for the military in its sometimes
clumsy attempts to balance security needs, individual rights and the
principle of equality." I swear: texts of dispatches about Israel in US newspapers should be taught in journalism classes in classes about Dump Propaganda 101.

"It was sad to see her final years mired in controversy after her ill-spoken comments (at the age of 88) sharply critical of Israel led to her forced retirement. Her views on brutal treatment of Palestinians, and unbalanced media and DC treatment of them, were not wrong, of course, if poorly stated." (thanks Sam)

PS The lousy Nation magazine first inserted a sentence explaining that her passion for Palestine was due to her heritage but later changed it.

""Many
Jews were offended by her suggestion that Israelis should "go home" to Germany,
Poland and America because Israel was initially settled in 1948 by Jews who had
survived or escaped Hitler's attempt to kill all the Jews in Germany and in
neighboring conquered countries."" (thanks Marc)

"The distinguished crowd was indeed mixed. It included Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to the U.S. House; Farah Pandith, the State Department’s special representative to Muslim communities; Duke University’s Imam Abdullah Antepli; author and professor Akbar Ahmed of American University; New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and his wife, Ann; and various ambassadors and rabbis." (thanks Jamal)

"I learned firsthand about the realities of executive branch power
40 years ago, when I discovered that a handful of U.S. executive leaders from
both political parties, liberals and conservatives, had secretly destroyed the
700-year-old Plain of Jars civilization in northern Laos without congressional
or public knowledge, let alone consent."

Saturday, July 20, 2013

"Palestinians in Gaza are feeling the impact of regime change
next door." "At the height of the black market trade between Gaza and Egypt
there were thought to be more than 1,000 tunnels employing around 7,000 people –
providing Hamas with an income from taxes and permits of millions of dollars a
month, estimated at 40% of the government's revenue. But Egypt is thought to
have closed or destroyed around 80% of the tunnels."

"Hutchins led an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping an Iraqi man
from his home in April 2006, marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death
in the village of Hamdania. Hutchins has said he thought the man — who turned
out to be a retired policeman — was an insurgent leader. None of the other seven
squad members served more than 18 months." (thanks Amir)

"An Asian man has been arrested for filming a video that has gone viral on the
Internet showing a UAE citizen beating up an Indian van driver in Dubai, local
media reported Thursday. The witness, whose nationality was not known, was
arrested for defaming the UAE man who beat up the Indian driver, the reports said." (thanks Basim)

She was the most courageous and most principled of all the Washington, DC-based correspondents. It was a joy for me to watch her on C-Span when I came to the US. Her defense of the Palestinian cause was louder than all the lousy Arab ambassadors combined.

It is not my intention to defend Al-Akhbar newspaper: I write for the paper but I have had disagreements with it. On four occasions, my articles were not published in the paper (and two of the four articles dealt with the Syrian situation). But I have come to notice that Western journalists refer to the paper as "pro-Syrian", which is quite inaccurate but those non-Arabic speaking reporters get their labels from their friends in the Hariri press office in Beirut. They judge a paper that they don't read. What is more hilarious is that they come to refer to newspapers of Saudi princes as "pan-Arab" (whether Al-Hayat or Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat). But Al-Akhbar's position on Syria is more complex and nuanced. It has placed free ads calling for the release of communist prisoners in Syrian jails, for example. You wont know that the front page of Al-Akhbar today is about the arrest of Syrian communist artist, Yusuf `Abdlaki. Do you think that any of the Saudi or Hariri papers will ever dare devote the front page of the paper to a Saudi dissident, EVER? Moral (it is moral and not morale as is commonly written) of the story: do your homework.

"As has been the case in recent years, America’s image is the most
negative in parts of the Muslim world, especially Pakistan (11%
favorable), Jordan (14%), Egypt (16%), and the Palestinian territories
(16%). Only 21% of Turks see the U.S. positively, although this is
actually a slight improvement from last year’s 15%. But the Muslim world
is hardly monolithic, and America receives largely positive ratings in
predominantly Muslim nations such as Senegal in West Africa and
Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia."

Friday, July 19, 2013

" "The "human capital" consisting of black men and women held as chattel in the states of the south was more valuable than all the industrial and transportation capital ("other domestic capital") of the country in the first half of the nineteenth century".

" A student senate at the University of California, Berkeley narrowly passed a measure calling on the school to divest from three companies with dealings in the West Bank. Following 10 hours of sometimes heated debate, the Associated Students of the University of California senate early Wednesday morning passed the resolution in an 11-9 vote, the student newspaper, the Daily Californian, reported." (Thanks Osama)

From AK: " Kissinger: Before the Freedom of Information Act, I used to say at meetings, "The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional
takes a little longer." [laughter] But since the Freedom of Information Act, I'm afraid to say things like that."

" Fleeing from the brutality in Syria, many of the refugees, Mr. Kleinschmidt said, “have a disturbed relationship with authority” and distrust people in uniform." You want them to trust Syrian regime and Jordanian regime men in uniform? Disturbed relationship with authority? You mean unlike the Nazi masses who had a healthy relationship?

Comic by Terry Furry, reproduced from "Heard the One About the Funny Leftist?" by Cris Thompson, East Bay Express

As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.

The comments that appear in the comments' section are unedited and uncensored. The thoughtful and thoughtless, sane and insane, loving and hateful, wise and unwise ideas that they contain do not represent the Angry Arab. They only represent those who write them, whoever they are.